Gift of the Phoenix
by wotcherfawkes
Summary: Cael Murdock, an unsociable English boy of ten years, is thrust into the magical world when he suffers an attack from a dementor and is saved by a mysterious Phoenix.
1. Chapter 1

**Gift of the Phoenix**

****_[Note - this is my first piece of fanfiction I've written, reviews would be wholly appreciated]_

Cael awoke to the steady splatter of droplets cascading against his window. He lay there for a moment, wallowing in the comfort and warmth of his bed, reflecting on everything and nothing.

To any one who knew of him, Cael Murdock was a seemingly ordinary ten-year-old boy of no consequence. A slender boy, with short raven-colored hair, sharp features, and striking dark blue eyes. Anywhere he was; school, home, or out among people, Cael had always been the quiet one. Thankfully, anyone dubbed the 'quiet lad' could be accepted among today's society and still seem ordinary to any soul, though Cael himself wouldn't describe himself as 'ordinary', he knew.

Glancing out his lone window, he noted that it was quite a dreary day, and windy too. _A reflection of this past school year,_ he thought, as he rose from his bed.

School was not important to Cael, as much as he or his mother would have liked it to be. It was not that school didn't seem appealing to him in any fashion, but the idea of adjusting to social norms and keeping up with his status among the hierarchy of youths all while having information systematically drilled into his brain didn't suit him as society would have liked it to. This information - which in most occupations he would most likely never need to know, controlled his future. So he went, of course, and achieved adequate grades that were usually high enough to please his mother and set his mind at ease in regards to his future.

Despite his hate for the school system and its curriculum, he had discovered an interest in literature. English classes had come easy to him for as far back in the system as he could recall, and Cael found the works of famous writers, poets, philosophers, etc. to be fascinating. Reading was his past-time, and writing was his passion.

But this passion didn't originate in his English classes, it was the result of Cael being the outcast among his peers. He'd been picked on, bullied, and sometimes physically beaten by the other kids because of his decision to keep to himself. A few times his only option was to change schools. Consequently, he had developed an anxiety disorder, and an even further detachment from social activities.

Grudgingly rolling out of bed, Cael made for the bathroom to take his usual unheated five-minute shower. When he was finished, he decided that his attire for the last day of school, _thank whatever God might be watching over me_, would include a plain brown t-shirt, jeans, and his beloved Chuck's. Mussing his wet black hair and snatching his pack from beside his rickety chair, he made way for downstairs to break his fast.

Still sleepy even after his shower, Cael greeted his mother with a "'Morning," as he shuffled into the kitchen and hastily prepped himself a bowl of cereal.

"Mhm," she responded, hardly taking note of him as she continued reading the morning paper.

Cael's mother had been quite distant lately, and he couldn't reason why. His Mom, or Neve as her friends called her, was a beautiful woman with midnight blue eyes, much like Cael himself (even though they were of no relation), with undulant brown hair which always seemed adorned with some kind of ornate trinket to match her outfit. Today she wore a simple headband the color of lilacs and a backless black dress. Cael had always seen his mother as frivolous and buoyant, a hard-working woman of independence and dignity who had decided long ago she did not need a man in her life. Cael loved his mother, as any son would, yet confronting her about her feelings was not something he was going to do in his disheveled state, besides, he did not have the time. '_Maybe tonight_,' he thought. As of now he could only hope it wasn't something too serious.

After swallowing his last few spoonfuls of wheats, dosing himself with anxiety medication, and saying good-bye to his mother, Cael made for the door. Yet as he stepped over the threshold, an innate sensation, one of which he had only felt the likes of a few times before, told him that that was the last time he would set foot inside of his home. Cael knew slight feelings of vertigo were a side-effect of his medication, but an inner voice was nagging at him, telling him to trust these feelings. He shrugged the feeling off anyway and continued on his way, sprinting over the threshold and into the pouring rain.

As he quickly made his way down the path and towards school, Cael couldn't help thinking about that feeling he got back at his house. He _had_ felt something like it before, he knew. A year ago, after school had ended and Cael was walking home, a group of the usual bullies, including Jared, the worst of them, had come from the woods and beaten him to the ground. When Jared had taken up a rock and started to swing toward Cael's head, he _knew_ it would be fatal if his swing connected. So he reacted. With speed he didn't know he possessed , he jumped up from the loose circle of kicking children and caught Jared's swing. The look of surprise on Jared's face was almost humorous, until he yanked out of Cael's grasp and went to shove the sharp stone into his stomach, where he was stopped yet again when Cael dodged his lunge and swiftly kicked at Jared's calf. The result was a satisfyingly loud crack of bone, and a terrible scream of pain from the bully.

Cael was shocked at what he had done on that day, but fortunately the bullies had left him alone from then on. Many other strange things had happened to him since birth: vanishing objects, levitation, the occasional explosion - but Cael had always shrugged these instances off as strange phenomenon that could be explained with science, or at least he hoped so.

A sudden chill broke him out of his reverie, and he noticed that the wind had picked up even more, while the steady droplets had increased to a chilling downpour. _That's really unusual for a spring day in England, _he concluded as he ran even harder for a nearby underpass.

At this point he didn't even care if he was late to school or not. He wasn't going to catch a cold just to make it on time for the last day of school, so he decided he'd wait out the rain under this grimy, underused, underpass where all kinds of scavenging creatures dwelt.

As he stood there, watching, listening to the heavy downpour of water, he decided he rather liked the rain. While most other people thought it annoying and depressing, Cael found comfort in the steady drips and drops. Rain relaxed Cael, and made him feel as if the world were small again, like when he was a child. Closing his eyes and breathing in the scent of life and water, he stood there for minutes as the storm continued, unrelenting, over sorry-old-England.

Suddenly he felt a chill creep up his spine as there was a sudden drop in temperature. _Now this is getting extremely odd, _he thought, dumbfounded. _How the hell is it this cold, when it's almost summer? _

Abruptly, the underpass became unnaturally dark, and the small pools of rainwater that had run under it were no longer pools, they had frozen solid. Even a nearby street lamp was frozen. It flickered, once, twice, and went out. Fear struck Cael, a fear so utterly strong he concluded there and then that he would never know happiness again.

Out of the corner of his eye, a shadow shifted toward him, one so large it might have been one of the pillars supporting the underpass. Rigid with fear, he managed to turn his head at the shape. What he saw could have resembled all of the horrors in the history of the world, and still, nothing could compare to this thing - whatever it was, that sucked all happiness from the world.

It was a cloaked monstrosity, over eight feet tall, with no visible lower body, that slowly swooped toward him, a meter off of the ground. Beneath its hood, he could see nothing but darkness, and frankly what lay under it was not something Cael would ever hope to see. He thought to run, to bolt out of there as fast as his legs would carry him and never look back, but he was paralyzed with fear, and he knew this _thing _would catch him despite his efforts.

Mere feet away now, the figure reached to pull back its hood. _No, NO, _Cael screamed to himself, but it was too late. A head of black decaying flesh was what looked upon Cael now. Its face was entirely featureless but for the rotten hole for a mouth, yet he knew the creature was pleased with the meal it had before it.

It closed in, and Cael found himself reliving his worst memories: of school, the beatings, of loneliness, the distance between him and his mother, the lack of a father figure, all of it. He felt himself drifting, as if his soul itself was being pulled out of him as he was reliving these memories. _I'm going to die, _he thought_. I am going to die, at the age of ten, with this thing sucking my soul out. Who will care? _But he knew that answer before he asked it. _No one but Mum._

But as these thoughts came to him, and the last terrible memory was sucked from him, a flame, a wonderful, beautiful flame, of warmth, happiness, and life, enveloped both himself and the creature.

Cael's last conscious moments were blurry, but he made out the shape of a large red bird, chasing the hooded creature away from the underpass and out of sight. Then he knew no more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Gift of the Phoenix**

**Chapter 2**

Cael's dreams were racked with both pleasant fantasies and nightmares, as if the forces of good and evil themselves were fighting it out inside his own head.

He dreamed of his real parents. His mother and his father looked down on him in his crib, laughing their hearts out. Cael had never seen any two people so happy. But abruptly, his mind would shift to a new scene of Cael in the unfamiliar arms of a woman with his mother looking down upon him, tears in her eyes. She kissed his forehead and quietly told him, 'Cael, you are loved. Always.' before sprinting away to join the distant sounds of battle. This went on for what seemed like days. Sometimes he shifted momentarily into a conscious daze before retreating seconds later into limbo, but those moments were few and far between.

When he finally shuffled out of his slumber and opened his eyes, Cael surprisingly felt healthier than he had ever been before, both physically and mentally. He felt clean, toned, focused, even robust, which was not a characteristic he would ever thought to have asserted with himself.

Looking around, Cael did not even remotely recognize his surroundings. He was on a comfortable bed, wearing what looked like white hospital garments. From what Cael could see, the room he was in had a high ceiling, ancient stone walls, great glass windows, and was filled with other hospital beds much like the one he was laying on. _Am I in a castle?_ was his immediate question.

"_You've awoken, then." _said a voice. Cael whipped around to see where it had come from and found a peculiar large red bird peering at him. It was perched on a nearby bed frame, one which Cael had unmistakably noted as unoccupied seconds before.

_"I take it you have many questions, Sire?" _Now staring at the bird, Cael realized its words were not vocalized, but spoken inside his own head. This voice was unlike anything Cael had ever heard, it almost seemed ancient, and he couldn't help noting the level of kindness it conveyed.

"Er, yeah. I do," he replied, pausing for a moment, "Where am I? Why am I here? How is a bird speaking to me telepathically? Why am I replying to it? What am I doing in these clothes? Have I gone completely buggers? And have I finally been forced into a psychiatric ward?" Cael's questions came out in quick succession, yet the bird answered them immediately.

_"You are in the hospital wing of Hogwarts, a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As an under-aged wizard, Cael, you are immediately taken under the protection of this school when you are faced with imminent death per a magical cause. This has been the norm for many a year, but do not misunderstand me, students are not typically introduced to our school in this manner. Unfortunately, the attack you suffered was fierce enough to trigger this safe-guard, and you were brought here by none other than myself. In regards to your questions about me, I am a magical bird. A phoenix to be precise, and my name is Arodos; I'm sure you've heard of my kind. However, I must tell you that the telepathic ability you share with magical creatures is uncommon throughout the magical world, and only a select group of witches and wizards have ever possessed it._

_"In a matter of speaking, yes, Cael, you have gone through quite a large amount of psychological stress in the weeks following the attack from that creature. But not to worry, you have completely recovered from the ordeal and I assure you; a non-magical psychiatrist would not find it necessary to place you into one of these wards you speak of."_

Cael could not believe what he was hearing. This talk of magic and wizards was completely insane and overstimulating, especially when the bird just told him he was a wizard himself. How could he be a wizard? He was just an ordinary boy. Wizards were always portrayed as wise or powerful in the fiction he read, and he did not deem himself either of those. Yet something inside him fought with him, telling him to let go of logic and reason and believe this _Phoenix. _

"This magic," Cael inquired, "if it's real, show me."

In response, Arodos burst into a magnificent display of golden and scarlet flame, vanishing from his perch and appearing on the bed adjacent to the one he had just departed.

_"You will find yourself encountering many more displays of magic in the coming days, but I believe that should suffice for now." _said Arodos merrily to Cael's dumbstruck face.

In that instant he remembered. He remembered the rain, the dark, the cold, _the shadow, the decaying mouth and rattling breaths._ But he also remembered his savior, the red bird, and its magnificent flame. _He saved me, _he realized. And suddenly he knew he could trust this creature.

"What was that thing that attacked me?" he asked.

_"That was what is known as a dementor; as I'm sure you noted, it is a very dangerous beast. A dementor is the embodiment of darkness itself, it feeds off of the life force of every living creature. The district you were located in came under attack from these terrible beasts and unfortunately many of the residents did not survive. Ministry of Magic workers have concealed the ordeal by wiping the memories of the survivors and planting the impression that the dead fell victim to an airborne virus."_

"And my mother, is she safe?" he whispered, the words barely escaping his mouth.

_ "I regret to inform you that your foster mother did not survive. I am truly sorry."_

Then he realized why he'd been holding his breath. Cael had feared it from the moment he'd awoken. His mother was gone, and she had somehow suffered a worse fate than Cael. In consternation, he let out a wail of agony. Placing his head in his hands, he began to sob, shutting himself from the world, the stupid idea of magic, the bird, everything. If he could have been saved, why not his mother? How was this fair? How could such a thing even happen?

_"Cael, even with magic there is no light without a dark, it is a fundamental rule of nature. We suffer the same grievances as non-magical humans do in life. Indeed, it may not seem fair, and I am sorry for that, but we cannot change the past, only grieve for our losses and move on._

_ "It is not always this way, Cael. You must understand that under normal conditions creatures and dark wizards are not allowed to roam freely throughout the world, killing as they go. But these are troubling times. We are at war with the most powerful dark wizard the magical world has ever known, Lord Voldemort. He has marshaled all sorts of evil creatures and wizards to join his legion, and unfortunately his numbers grow each passing minute as the tides of the war are turned in his favor. With each day, the light side suffers a loss. I regret to say that at this point in the war our defeat is inevitable."_

"Then why am I being kept here in this castle? Can I not go back home?" he managed to say through tears.

_ "I have a strong belief that Voldemort intends to use you for his own intents and purposes, Cael. You come from a very powerful wizarding family, one which has spited Voldemort many a time. Once your residence was attacked, he and his followers were alerted to your presence; that is why you shall be kept here for the time being. As I have been entrusted with your protection, I will accompany you around the castle unless I am needed for a matter of urgency."_

_ "If you find yourself alone and in trouble, you will need this." _the phoenix shuffled its feathers and from out of its breast floated an object. Upon closer inspection, Cael noted that the object was a ring. An extraordinary ring of matte onyx, emblazoned with intricate Celtic loops which wound around red diamond jewels.

_"In the case that you are in danger, this ring will entwine my powers to yours until help arrives."_

Cael slipped the ring onto his finger, immediately feeling a thrum of energy-or maybe it was magic, that coursed throughout his entire body.

_"I believe that is enough for today, Cael Murdock. You need rest."_

Then the phoenix began to sing. It sang a hymn of sorrow, so beautiful it seemed to reach the depths of Cael's soul. It surrounded him, rejuvenated him, allowing him to feel the greatest pang of sadness, but also the deep elation of happiness, all in the same instant. It was humble yet heavenly, and it made Cael's heart break and mend dozens of times over until he felt nothing more but inner sanctity. His tears now forgotten, Cael gently laid his head back, sinking into the soft pillow as he shut his eyes once again.

• • •

Tom Marvolo Riddle sat stiffly upon his throne of bones, tapping his pale wand to his chair, mulling over the news he had just received from the Death Eaters standing before him. It both troubled him and excited him, though he dared not let it effect his semblance in front of his servants.

A descendant to the line of Murdock had been uncovered in the recent raid of a muggle village. Many inhabitants had fallen victim to the dementors' hunger, including the child's false mother. If Voldemort were to take this boy as an ally, it might prove to be a fastidious task, considering he had ordered the attack himself. Even so, the boy is only the age of ten and would require years of training if he were to join Voldemort's ranks. But the Murdocks were a competent group of witches and wizards; their family alone had almost destroyed his ascension to power, until he wiped them out in the night.

_But the boy is at Hogwarts. _He thought, _Is he worth so much effort as to lay siege to the greatest defended stronghold in the country? No, no, the life of one boy is not worth such an attack. But if I should wait until the end of this war, the child would most likely be murdered in the crossfire._

_ 'Tap tap. Tap tap. Tap tap.' _the cadence of his wand continued unhampered, for his servants feared what would happen if they so much as coughed in his presence. Voldemort gazed upon each bowed Death Eater in turn: Dolohov, Bellatrix, Lucius, Yaxley, and Nott. They were a capable group, he knew, pure of blood and each powerful in their own expertise. Surely he could trust them with a task such as this.

_[Note - Thank you so much for your reviews! They're greatly appreciated and are truly my main source of motivation. Let's keep them coming! Chapter 3 will be released in a week or so.]_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

In the weeks following Cael Murdock's encounter with the dementor, the young wizard was confined to the castle grounds. This was for his own protection, and Cael didn't mind in the slightest.

At first, he remained alone in the hospital wing both day and night, grieving for his mother in the confines of his bed. But eventually he mustered the energy to explore the rest of Hogwarts and all of its wonders, setting his momentary grief aside.

Everything from the great hall to the 'Quidditch' pitch -as Arodos called it- astounded him. Cael could almost smell the magic radiating off of this place. Admittedly, the castle's ghosts slightly set him off a bit, and left him with questions about the after-life and his mother, to which Cael was promptly told that there was a very small possibility he would ever see her as a ghost; that brought down his mood a bit. That is, until he was asked to join the other inhabitants of the castle for dinner in the Great Hall, where he had first met Albus Dumbledore and other members of the staff. They had all come off as kind people, sharing light conversations between each other which Cael occasionally joined in on. Yet he couldn't help but notice their reservation and the pain he could see in some of their eyes. It seemed the war with Voldemort had taken its toll on all of them.

When Cael was not exploring the grounds, he could be found in the library, nose-deep in some of the many introductory books for oblivious witches or wizards. Arodos had suggested a list to him of the many works he'd be using in the coming year, but also a bit of history on the school and the magical world in general. He'd already discovered that Merlin was an actual wizard, and an idolized one at that. He had read about the four Founder of Hogwarts: Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, and Salazar Slytherin, the four people who had created the institution and divided it into the four houses which were still in effect today. Cael honestly thought the school could do without this system; it was inherently bigoted and promoted discrimination between the houses, entirely reminiscent of the ideals of Lord Voldemort. Incidentally, this very system had spawned the war that was currently ravaging the wizarding world. Cael wondered if the staff saw this.

On a particular night, after eating dinner in silence while the staff was away - presumably out on Order business - Cael returned to his newly stationed quarters next to the Hufflepuff common room with Arodos gliding lightly behind him. It was a quiet, warm summer night; the wind was calm and the stars permeated the night sky, displayed in all of their magnificence. Moonlight frequently penetrated the many orifices of the castle wall, where it then graced the cool interior, spreading great fingers of luminescence along Cael's path.

Figuring that if he was going to read all of these books before the term started, he would need to pick up the pace. He finally reached his quarters and climbed straight into bed, where he began reading _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. _So enthralled in the book, Cael did not realize hours had passed until his eyelids had begun to droop. Looking around and blinking in quick succession to clear his vision, the boy noted that Arodos had nodded off on his perch and that his source of light had dwindled to the mere candle by his bedside. Cael then wondered how he had managed to read in such dim light, figuring this place even had magic candles. Chuckling to himself, Cael softly shut the book, quenched the flame of the magic candle, and closed his eyes, hoping this whole experience was not just a dream.

The young wizard had finally come to terms with the death of his foster mother, acknowledging that she wasn't going to come back, not through magical or non-magical means. He had immediately ruled out using her death as a catalyst for revenge against Voldemort. His mother would never want that, and neither did he. So he would fight for the greater good, for all that was worth. This 'Light Side' that he had been almost forcefully incorporated into was losing the war. In fact, any day now, the castle of Hogwarts could come under siege.

With acceptance of his mother's death also came acceptance of the wizarding world. Admittedly, he had been hesitant to believe that such a thing as magic could exist, and that maybe he was just dreaming all of this. But it seemed so very _real_ to Cael. With time, he realized he _wanted _it to be real. It was so much better than his old life. _If it is just a dream, hell, I might as well embrace it,_ he thought as he nodded off to sleep.

Just seconds after shutting his eyes, an alarm ruptured the silence, echoing off the stone walls of Cael's chamber. Instinctively leaping out of bed, Cael surveyed the dark room, alert for any signs of danger. Abruptly, Arodos burst into a cloud of flame and was gone. Cael tensed, he figured Arodos had left to discover the source of the alarm, but he had always felt much safer with the Phoenix nearby.

Minutes ticked by as he stood there in silence, searching for any sound which might give him a hint as to what was going on. _Surely this could not be an attack, no way. If the staff is out fighting the war, then who's here?_, Cael tried to console all remained silent; the only sound to be heard was the rapid beating of Cael's heart.

Then he heard it: a shuffling noise outside the door to his chambers. Every single muscle in Cael's body tensed, wondering if it were friend or foe. Grabbing one of the many decorative spears adorning the walls and diving behind his bureau, Cael managed to avoid the explosion and splintering wood which had just seconds before been a very-nicely crafted door. Disregarding thoughts of what a carpenter might think of this infraction, the boy wizard risked a glance around the edge of his dresser, spear in hand.

Standing in the doorway was a cloaked figure – ostensibly male-like in shape – whom was armed with a wand. This figure scanned the room before entering warily, wand poised. From the position Cael was in, he had the advantage over the attacker, concealed completely by an oversized piece of furniture. If he were to jump out in this instant and make for the door, he'd run right into the man. There wasn't much use in trying to fight this person either, considering fear was gripping Cael by the throat and he was half his size anyway. Alternatively, he remained where he was, dreading his inevitable approach and possibly, death.

Adrenaline now coursed through Cael's body. Time seemed to pass by in years; each resonant thud that marked the fall of the man's boots as he crossed the room sent shudders through Cael's body. _Huh, I manage to narrowly avoid getting my soul sucked out just weeks prior, and now I'm going to die again, _he thought to himself as the man came within striking distance.

That's when Cael remembered his ring. He figured it was finally time to take action. Trusting Arodos, he sprinted out from behind his cover, running straight for the man, who had such a surprised look on his face when he noticed a child charging him with a spear that it might have been humorous in another world. But the moment of surprise fled, and the man made to swipe his arm down upon Cael, but the boy expected this. Sliding under the attacker's arm and kicking the man's leg out from under him, he momentarily knocked him off balance. Then Cael thrust the butt of his spear into the assailant's back, completely knocking the man over. That's when Cael made for the door at full-sprint, spear still in hand.

Ignoring the shouts of profanity being spewed from behind him, Cael ran out of his chambers as fast as his legs would carry him. Running past the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room and now making his way up the steps to the kitchen corridor, he could hear the pursuing sounds of his attacker. A spell was fired from the assailant's wand, raising the hairs on Cael's neck. It would have hit Cael if he had not ducked, but fortunately it splashed against the massive painting of a bowl of fruit to no effect. He kept running.

He was not so lucky when the second spell was fired. It impacted the back of his calf with a loud thud, numbing everything from his knee downwards. Cael stumbled, now at the door to the entrance hall where a battle was raging between the Order members who were left to guard the castle and Voldemort's Death Eaters. Cael saw the current defense teacher, Mrs Palinsky, dueling with three of the masked figures at once. She did not last long, eventually succumbing to a cutting curse which tore open her throat, splattering the house point hourglasses with blood.

Too horror-struck to realize that the battle was over, Cael did not notice he was being dragged out of the castle by the largest of the Death Eaters until the continuous thud-thud of the castle steps shook him back to reality.

"Nott, bring that pest back here." The man who Cael had downed in his room was trailing after the group of Death Eaters, eyes set on their prisoner.

Nott, the man dragging him, stopped and raised his wand at the other. "The Dark Lord commanded us not to harm a hair on the boy's head. If you find you can't handle such a simple order, I suggest you bring it up with him, Dolohov. Your incompetence was already proven when the boy handed your ass to you." Nott snarled.

"Fuck you, you old sack of shit." Dolohov screamed, drawing his wand just as Nott anticipated. Cael was let go by the man, and soon enough crawled away from the line of fire as spells were traded between the two men.

But the row was broken up when one of the others, a woman, got between the two and started screeching, commanding them to compose themselves. "Fools, the Order could be back any second now. And what would they find? The Dark Lord's Inner Circle having a schoolyard duel?" the woman scoffed. "Stow your pride, save it for another time you imbeciles. Grab the Murdock boy and let's get out of here."

With semblance now, the two quarreling men gathered themselves together. Nott grabbed Cael yet again and the group quickly made their way through the grass, heading for the Hogwarts gates.

Cael wondered why he was letting this happen. He almost offered no struggle to the man. He was in shock, yes, but even so, he knew he could not let these people take him away. He'd live a life of suffering, or worse, he would be used by Voldemort as a weapon for murder and destruction. But he knew he'd rather die than let that happen, so at least he had that assurance, although it wasn't much consolation.

A swift kick to Nott's nether region granted Cael momentary freedom, and the boy was off again, expecting he would not get more than ten feet before being knocked out for good this time. But when he turned to get a look at his pursuers, their attention was no longer focused on him. Arodos had returned and was encircling the Death Eaters in a ring of Phoenix flame. As beautiful as the flame was, the dark wizards were aware of its properties. Phoenix flame would turn anything the bird might see as a threat to ash in mere seconds.

Now with looks of pure terror evident on their faces, the Death Eaters began firing off spells at the bird, shooting to kill. It would be an impossible feat for the bird to continuously dodge the onslaught of spells, but Arodos held his own until a purple curse tore through one of his wings. Cael watched in dismay as the ring of Phoenix flame dwindled to nothing. Arodos managed to make his way over to him, alighting awkwardly on his shoulder, staring down the dark wizards in defiance.

_"Cael," _the bird spoke to him with the same elegance he had always conveyed, yet a hint of sadness laced his words, _"I must tell you, that if I do not do this thing, the fate of the wizarding world may be lost to the Dark. You know that Phoenixes live through the eons, dying and being reborn again from their ashes. But understand that no living creature is immortal. All things must meet their end, and frankly, I have waited too long to meet mine._

_"I knew from the moment I met you, Cael Murdock, that you would be my successor. When a phoenix nears their end, they must choose the next in line, just as I have chosen you. With that, I say goodbye to you Cael. It has been an extraordinarily long life, and it was truly a pleasure to meet you."_

Arodos swooped from Cael's shoulder with as much grace as he could muster, and met the killing curse head-on. All at once, the phoenix burst into that magnificent flame again, but this time it enveloped the whole of the grounds, creating a beautiful vortex of energy and light, the widest array of colours Cael had ever witnessed, swirling and winding before his very eyes like a thousand suns, yet he remained unharmed. Staring about in awe, Cael realized how beautiful magic could be.

Then the flames were rushing towards Cael. He cried out as they filled his soul, changing him, invigorating him. It was pure energy, as if Phoenix song had made its way into Cael's blood.

When the last of the Phoenix Light had dissipated, so had Cael's consciousness.

_[Note - Now where shall we go from here hmm? Eheheheh. To anyone who's worried: Cael will not be turned into a bird, I can assure you that. Reviews and constructive criticism are really appreciated guys. Next chapter in a week or so, hopefully.]_


End file.
